14 years old in my high school years I was trading as a graphic designer, it was fulfilling making extra cash independently. All I had to do was design and go to town to print out the designs, I can’t look back at the designs today to spare me the embarrassment but hey I was a pioneer, therefore, I have set the benchmark. Call it a monopoly if you will.

I always asked myself what was missing? What am I doing differently? See, where I was printing my designs they had a revenue and staff. We actually do the same thing, what am I doing wrong? I was the business, therefore, couldn’t pass the school bus test, but I didn’t care I just wanted to grow, but I had hit the ceiling. I couldn't understand what were they doing that makes them so successful.

Fast forward, as a second-year student in Computer Science and Informatics I registered Cyber Geeks it was a metamorphosis of my back then company President Production(Graphics and design). I finally answered the question “What is missing?”, three things in essence:

• Exposure, though I had a Facebook page it was only liked by my friends and family hence the business could only go that far. 
• Knowledge, I had no clue what was happening in the industry. I didn’t know how they were operating never mind having strategies in place, at least I had one I.e. to design one more calendar and get the cash. 
• Value, yes I was a good designer but it didn’t impact anyone. Let’s say I grow, who will I hire? No one had the skill in my township, the ones who knew a computer it was because of Mario Bros and typing CV’s 

Those three missing elements became the pillar of Cyber Geeks. Our duty is to inspire secure digital transformation and process automation in Africa through Software Engineering, how are we filling the different components you may ask?

• We take your business and rip off the working hours which is also exposing it in a universal scale. This means that your neighbour will not be your only client, but the entire universe can access you via a platform which can be both web or app or both! 
• We carefully choose the frameworks that we use so that there are no security loopholes left unpatched to give you the peace of mind. 
• A platform only is not enough if there is no data that is converted to knowledge which will help you better position yourself. Hence we also package it with business intelligence to put you on the cutting edge of your industry. 

As aforementioned we want to inspire what we do hence we have Geek Academy and blacksuit which is our skills distribution initiatives were we train the community so that we can have a sustainable digital ecosystem and securing it through awareness with regards to the cyber ecosystem. 

I often say I am an Entrepreneur who happens to be a geek, my entrepreneurial being heavily influenced the methodology who follow at Cyber Geeks. That is Design which speaks to purpose and meaning then Code has a certain standard we follow to make sure that it’s secured and lastly Disruptive, beyond innovation and efficiency. We driving a revolution that will give birth to new industries, and you will make a perfect partner.

Superman

2017 has been a thrilling ride, I am both excited and excited up to this point (yes, twice the excitement). Sometimes I laugh at myself on how stupid I am to start my own business. See, running a business is filled with uncertainty especially an upstart like mine in a competitive tech world and lack of financial stability. In the roller coaster of having to be a tower of strength, a leader and innovator, a magician(conjuring up pay rises, resources and extra staff at the drop of a hat), a kind brother, a shoulder to cry on, a dynamic motivator, a stern but fair judge, a diplomat, a politician, a financial wizard, a protector, a savior and a saint, or sometimes I even have to be Santa Claus. So I have times whereby I liken myself to superman, it makes sense to me as a founder of an upstart.

Being responsible for a whole gang of people which includes staff, clients, and the board. I have to coax out of them a decent experience and days of work. I have to ensure that they don’t eat themselves up, be an advocate for both sides and miraculously have them both win the case. I have to know their rights, my rights, and the country's law(thank God they don’t have a union… yet!). When the sun sets, I am expected to have a job well done.

Uh… I almost forgot I have to remain cool and calm — I can’t shout or have favorites. This entrepreneurship business is a tall order. Richard Templar further said “The team behaves like small children at times, you can’t smack them. At other times they will behave like petulant teenagers — sleeping in late, not turning up, refusing to do the real work if they do turn up, sloping off early, that sort of a thing”.

Welcome 

It’s depressing, if you have just started a business I would like to welcome you to the jungle. This reminds me of the financial meltdown in 2008, it felt like our financial world was coming to an end.  Barbers and billionaires were all panicking. I remember the headlines of a young man throwing himself over the bridge because the stock market has crashed. If my brother reads this article he would say I am lying because I am not even 20 yet, how do I know this? Well for everyone who knows me that well shut up! (I am kidding) even though I was born and bred in a small township called Phola, I founded an astronomy club when I was in primary school of which I was a chairperson (let’s be fancy and call it CEO). What made me aware of the Great Depression in 2008 was the fact that we were looking for sponsorships and we couldn’t get any then I used my Motorola V360 to get to know what was really happening.

With all of the entrepreneurship turbulence I encounter every day! I chose to lie to myself. See the dude who threw himself over the bridge at night, in the morning the market began to take shape again. In his book as a man thinketh echoing a biblical verse “as a man thinketh so his heart will be” I came to realize that most of the time I was filled with fear. What if I fail? What if I will lose? What if? What if? What if?! James Allen taught me that everything we create in our lives starts with a thought. And Napoleon Hill in his book outwitting the devil also affirmed that fear can be mastered as well and I remember the talk by Les Brown and he said: “FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real”. Thoughts are lies and we choose to view our setbacks as failures or opportunity, we choose to be optimistic when we encounter adversity or pessimistic.

It's about your reaction

I looked at myself in the mirror the other time when I entered my apartment, I was excited about the deal that I have closed and to the contrary a few days back I was having a pity party on how broke I am and the business not doing well I thought to myself I might as well get a job. I realized how stupid I was, nothing has changed. My laptop is still space gray and my glasses are still bronze, nothing has changed. Why am I then excited today? Because I told myself a different story. When I was down and out, I told myself that I am not going to survive as a result I must explore the alternatives. It was not true, but I convinced myself that it’s over. Since thoughts are just lies and have a great impact on our lives. I lie every day to myself and that keeps my impulse healthy and momentum at a peak. No, I don’t have psychosis, I just don’t let the external forces get into me. I have established a firewall around me which protects me from all the negative substances that want to get into my system.

Be careful

To all the entrepreneurs out there, don’t let it get to you. I know it gets too much, but it’s business it doesn’t have any emotions. That’s why it’s important to work on your business, not in your business. If you get stressed in a way you don’t like, get some time out or daydream if you will. Change your thinking, life is bigger than your business. Not letting it get to you doesn’t mean not caring or not taking pride in what you do. No, it means putting things into context so you can go home and switch off. Don’t let it eat away at you, make you unhealthily stressed or overwrought. 

I was watching air crash investigation the other day on National Geographic, either than the fact that I enquire whether the engines have been serviced or not and aren’t there any expired oxygen tanks before boarding a plane, it was interesting to me on how the series of events unfolded on that episode, I wish to talk about the Bermuda Triangle but I will resist the temptation. The plane tried to run and take off but with no success on the first attempt, therefore, it had to rotate and try again, but there was no luck. On the third attempt the pilots were determined to take it to the air with full throttle in a manner that there was no turning back, the 200 passenger seat plane crashed in the nearby bushes and exploded.

With a close analysis, they found out that the cause of the dramatic event was due to frozen wings, therefore, they couldn’t band over to control the direction of the air hence it couldn’t take off. Planes, however, have anti-freezing mechanisms in the wings which is heat produced by the engines, but they were not serviced hence the doom.

Its okay to run in order to gain momentum for a takeoff, but if you don’t take off you will crash and burn. This is what happens in the life of a start up that doesn’t mature. You keep on rounding circles in which they consume your resources I.e. money and time. I don’t care how intelligent your team is, but if you are not going anywhere they will leave because they are under utilized especially these millennials. And as you keep on making those turns in which I am using them as a metaphor the inevitable will happen, because you have pressure from the surroundings and you have been trying for a long time then you hope it will take off, you hope your business will climb a step up. Even if there are resources, but for a mere fact that they don't communicate with one another they won’t work independently.

Have your checklist ready and ensure that you take off as soon as possible. It’s challenging running a startup, and it gives you the chills every now and then and as an entrepreneur the uncertainty is thrilling and exciting at times, but you will be depressed if it doesn’t mature into a business having defined processes and an exit strategy after sometime.

The Toad, having finished his breakfast, picked up a stout stick and swung it vigorously, belabouring imaginary animals. 'I'll learn 'em to steal my house!' he cried. 'I'll learn 'em, I'll learn 'em!' 'Don't say "learn 'em," Toad.' said the Rat, greatly shocked. 'It's not good English.' 'What's the matter with his English' said the Badger, 'why are you nagging the Toad? I also do the same and it's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for you!'  'I am very sorry said the Rat humbly.'Only I think it ought to be "teach 'em", not "learn 'em". 'But we don't want to teach said the Badger. 'we want to LEARN 'em-- learn 'em, learn 'em! and what's more, we're going to DO it, too!'

In the case of the Toad and the Badger their interest was not only to distribute knowledge, but it was also learning. This simply means that their definition of education is a two-way street. Not in our lecture halls, unfortunately, we are no longer having lectures but we go to the halls and listen to talks. The content being taught at schools, at least in South Africa is irrelevant, ineffective and lethal hence we have to unlearn. Wait... How did I arrive at this conclusion?

It's easy, take a look at social media platforms and the content in which our millennials are tweeting and twerking about (I also don't know where does twerking fit). It actually exposes what is happening in the classroom i.e. Nothing. If the school was effective we won't be having #MinimumWage as a trend and we won't be voting for ANC because it promises us a social grant. Since we are talking about money, the education system is not mindful of the entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship landscape. It is stuck in 19 something when Jan van Riebeek arrived at the cape, it's basis is on slavery.

The problem began...

Doing my ninth grade, I was taught that the aim of the business it to make a profit. This provoked excitement, but at a later stage after not making a dime for a year I realised that money is a byproduct of impact and value. You provide impact and add value, like smoke when a fire is lit, it appears.
Here is another one, "I am an entrepreneur, I am my own boss" these kinda people are either still living in a back room or can't write entrepreneurship without auto correct. The reality is: when you are an entrepreneur the government, clients, shareholders are all your boss' take a seat, Mr Happy Socks.
As our education system produces spoilt brats and low self-esteemed human beings, we end up with 9 out of 10 businesses failing within the first three years. 

Let me explain this further.

What happened when someone failed a grade? he was dimmed as a loser and an incompetent bastard who is wasting parents money. Ignoring the fact that only one out of 7 methods of teaching were practised and the content he is learning is irrelevant to the society around (I still can't figure out why I was taught about King Louis the Sixteenth). In the business realm, failing doesn't mean that. It's an achievement that you at least know what is not working. As of spoilt brats, our graduates are beggars.
I don't find it cute holding a banner saying that you have a degree in engineering and looking for a job at the robots(my English friends, I am referring to traffic lights).

Talking about traffic light... we didn't even invent that. How does a nail clipper work? You would be still chewing your teeth if they didn't introduce it to you, comfort zone. I agree with the founder of LinkedIn when he says entrepreneurship is like jumping off the cliff and building an aeroplane on your way down. The information you have learnt at school is outdated and poisonous, unlearn it or learn the hard way.

Without the shadow of a doubt the success of entrepreneurship has many beneficial rewards, achievements and successes which are evident to people. However there is also a dark side that exists which is suggested by Donald Kuratko and many other entrepreneurs I had coffee with. Entrepreneurship is all about risks, and the tricky part is that the higher the risk the bigger the reward hence most of the time we come up with some hilarious ideas which can cost everything. Risks are fun (at least to me). The more we take risks the more the dark side comes to live, one stupid mistake can kick you out of the game.

Financial Risk
Most business need capital to start, and as an entrepreneur you give all you have for the resources which will ensure the operation of the business. This risk is greater when you don't have retrievable assets which are invested in the business. If the venture fails, all is lost. For a start up this is a huge blow that can knock you out.

Career Risk
As an employee of a company you have many rewards because the company is established already. Working your nine to five stress free. When women are pregnant there is a maternity leave they are entitled to, and as an entrepreneur at some point you have to quit your job because you have to take care of your baby. Pity there is no "maternity" leave for entrepreneurs. You risk what you have now for an idea(How crazy can you be!), its a huge and dangerous step- but worth it provided you succeed.

Family and Social risk
Being an entrepreneur means you no longer work 9 to 5 for somebody else, it means you are working 24 hours for yourself. Everything you do, your business is in your mind. A start up needs more time and the more you focus on it the less you have time to go out and spend time with family and eventually friends will fade away due to loss of contact. And those who are married they expose their families the risk of an incomplete family experience and the possibility of permanent scars even worse, divorce. 

Psychic Risk
You loose it. this is the greatest. The lost job can be replaced, lost time can be attributed, lost money can be retrieved, friends come and go anyway. Some entrepreneurs who have been hit hard, its hard for them to bounce back. The psychological impact is too much for them, they go insane. After a big loss you can't sustain your ego anymore and as a result you collapse. The danger of this is that it can lead to suicide if you don't get help.

Maniac
Are you out of your mind? business will drive you crazy! I can recall many instances at a public place when an idea randomly comes up or triggered by an event I witnessed then I pause and write is down. It happens during meals, people trying to speak to you but you not in the moment thinking about the next idea, next step and amendments. You enter in your zone where no one can understand. That's why you need a right spouse when you want to become an entrepreneur.

If you are not a risk taker and crazy at the same time, stick to your job or go to school.

I know for sure that I am going to be a successful entrepreneur, its in my blood and I can feel the ambition through my veins. Under God's guidance nobody can stop me not even me.

I don't wanna lie to myself, I draw my inspiration from the successful men and women out there, flashy cars and nice clothes. Bank full of money to a point that its seems like its unlimited. Nice and expensive neighborhoods with big sophisticated designed houses, YES thats what I am talking about!

 Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, I am going to be that ladder myself. I just want to be successful God knows. This is way out of scope for many as they assume if you are a preacher you don't have this materialistic desires, I am a bible scholar so I have some scripture to back it up.

However, I have a question to the ideal me(a successful man I am going to be) and some notable rich men out there. Is it all that there is?

What do I mean? Is our end goal as humans to have all the materialistic things. Give me an advice here, I wanna be a millionaire and to be in the front page of Forbes magazine. But is that it? Money, expensive cars and houses. Do these things bring satisfaction or greed? My mentor once told me that the multi-billionaire Steve Jobs was asked on his death bed what he wanted and nobody was prepared for the response. He wanted more time... Just more time to spend with his family, go hiking with his son maybe. Bill Gates is one of the richest in the world, what does he do with the money? Expensive cars, suits and houses? No! He has an organization which helps eradicate the diseases and poverty world wide in which he donated approximately $20 billion in it and Warren Buffet donated with $6 billion in it. Who is Warren Buffet? He is a man who is richer than most countries, but still leaves in his old same house. Didn't allow money to change him. 

Maybe this is an old man syndrome. Maybe old people though they are rich can't do all these fleshy things because they can't fit in the 21st community. Maybe they are just not trend-some as they can't relate. I am afraid those assumptions are incorrect because the CEO and Founder of Facebook drives a simple honda in an ordinary house.

Who told me that being successful was all about things with commodity? I was watching one of Robert Kiyosaki's workshops and found out that his watch is not Rolex and his suit is not tailor made at all.

My perception has shifted, but not changed. Do I still want to be a successful entrepreneur? Yes. Am I still going to be one? Yes. The difference is that I know that it isn't all that there is, the possessions don't matter much if the soul has no rest and the mind doesn't have peace. 

Thank you for reading, please do share.

I am an entrepreneur in the ICT field, I have been an entrepreneur as far as I knew I could sell my stuff without my parents noticing, to break it down quite frankly I am an entrepreneur who failed several times. At school they taught me that the reason to start a business is so that you may gain profit, of course that changed when I went to Tertiary as it was a totally different environment and you actually get in dept with every concept and things start to be clear(or even worse: complicated). In a nut shell lets employ 5 typical keys on why you should start a business according to Chris Joseph

Income Potential
When you start your own business, you have the opportunity to earn an unlimited income based on your own efforts and the success or failure of the enterprise. This differs from working for a company where your income may be limited by a salary structure or the evaluation of your performance by your superiors.

Pursuing a Passion
Starting your own business allows you to make a living while pursuing something for which you have a strong passion. You may have a special talent, such as writing, playing music or repairing automobiles that you've enjoyed as a hobby. By turning it into a business, you may find more enjoyment and fulfillment in your work life that can lead to a happier life in general.

Related Reading: Three Key Success Factors in a Business Area

A Good Idea
You may have an idea for a product or service that meets an unfulfilled need in the marketplace. By turning your idea into a business, you can be the first to meet that need which can result in a profitable venture. You could profit even more by teaching your idea to others or by creating a business model, which you can turn into a franchise.

New Lifestyle
Starting a business can be a way for those who are tired of the "9-to-5" grind to leave the corporate world and enter into a more flexible lifestyle. Depending on the type of business you choose, you may be able to work a more flexible schedule, which can allow you to spend more time with family and friends. A business can also appeal to those who enjoy making their own decisions without direction from others.

Self-Expression
Owning a business allows you to be more creative and express yourself. You are not restricted by having to follow a set work methodology, and you're free to change your work processes if you wish. You can also create additional products or services to meet customer demands.

"If its not broken don't fix it, but innovate it"- President Masango

Lets agree on this, all of this is about you and enriching yourself in which there is no problem in that, but it is all a trap. I extracted this because it is an expression on what is full on the internet, they all follow the same frame but then they are all traps actually.
As the readers mindset will be on profit not value and you will agree with me that adding value to the community actually brings business, but that is done contrary.

Just a little enlightenment in South Africa there used to be Close Corporations in which they are business with a max of 10 owners and there are no shares issued and members can act individually(which is good and bad). The reason for a high influx in this its because it was simple to manage however it cant be registered anymore because there where a lot of people who registered them and did nothing afterwards, because the impression entrepreneurs have when establishing a business follows the above 5 steps which are all about oneself which make entrepreneurs egocentric and that is a wrong impression which puts one in a trap as the business is profit orientated never minding the impact and value it is adding.

As a result the entire concept of the business has to be changed as we need entrepreneurs who are not profit driven, but problem driven hence don't start a business rather solve a problem then profit wont have a choice but to follow you, because we want problem solvers. I know a lot of businesses which are causing problems than solving them hence they run out and end up being in debt just because of unethical reasons, namely;

• What happened to blackberry? we brought their phones and they froze hence their sales are now going low even worse it seemed to lack innovative strategies because the initial idea was to send an e-mail and nothing else special, but BBM.
• Mining in South Africa is affecting residence negatively, by pollution especially in Mpumalanga as there are no green zones though it contribute immensely to the GDP, but the residence suffer from pollution related diseases which decreases the life expectancy and that is a negative notion because its affecting the effectiveness of the labors.
• Latest news, meter taxis. Charging an unreasonable fair hence creating problems to the consumers whilst trying to solve it by transportation, it was all good until another business actually solved that problem and connected drivers to customers using an app, Uber.

The entire point of this article is to just raise a red flag that we don't actually need business people, but we need problems solvers, I never found the identity of my company until I tried to solve a problem without causing one myself. Hence be problem orientated not profit driven because that is a trap. And when others see problems that's where you are needed, but you are not a non-profit either hence make some revenues out of them.

With this you can be able to innovate and that will give you a competitive advantage. Its time for you to go big or go home.

So the model is simple; Identify a problem then solve it afterwards reap the revenues as simple as that!

"Live full and die empty and it's not over until you win"-Les Brown